The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1887-02-03
Public Lands.
To the Statpama'


Senate judiciary committee No, 2 has
reported favorably Senator Houston's I'M
lawful enclosure bill, which is claimed to
be the most perfect free grass measure
that has ever been introduced in either
house of the legislature.
The bill provides that 1t shall consti
tute felony for any person to hereafter
enclose, or to permit to remain enclosed,
any lands heretofore enclosed, and belong
ing to the public school, university or asy-
lum funds of this state, or the property
of any individual, firm or corporation,
county or city, without the written author
ity from the proper officer, or owner, duly
recorded, etc.
1t is to be remembered that Senator
Houston is free eraser, pledged and
elected by free grass constituency in
the free grass district, and it does not re-
quire a microscopic view to detect the
hidden intent of his Enclosure bill.
The provisions of the bill, as will be
seen, applies not only to public school
and asylum lands, but to the lands of pri-
vate persons, counties, towns, corpora
tions and syndicates. Now it must be
conceded that in order to derive reve
nue. from the leasing of public, school and
asylum lands, they must be leased to the
stock men, and in quantities
suitable for ranch purposes, and
when we consider that these lands
are located alternately, section by section,
with the private lands owned by persons,
railroads, corporations, foreigners and
spectators, resident all over the United
States, England, Scotland and Ireland, it
is quite easy to see that the effect of Sen
ator Houston's bill would be to make the
leasing of the school, asylum and public
lands dependent upon the first leasing of
every acre of private lands in their respec-
tive ranges, for the only inducement to
lease these public lands, would be the
right to inclose them, which, owing to
their location, could not be done without
likewise inclosing private lands.
Again, it is a pretty well settled
idea that the present legislature
will pass bill providing
for the classification of these public lands
into agricultural and grazing lands, the
former to be sold in tracts of $40 acres to
actual settlers only, and the grazing lands
to be leased, &c. Now,let us suppose that
in an area embracing one hundred sec
tions of these public lands there may be
one, two or three sections classed as agri-
cultural lands, which are taken up by one,
two or three actual settlers, with ten
thousand head of cattle, and who would
forbid the inclosure of said lands, and
thereby defeat the leasing of said one
hundred grazing sections on which
they would Craze their 10000
cattle free. Also, viewing it from
another standpoint, we think the bill OBJ
jectionable. Suppose some English or
Scotch lord or land syndicate to own a
few sections in the midst of an immense
territory of school or asylum lands, and
who refuses to the would-be lessee the
right to inclose said private lands; the
effect of the bill would be to defeat leases
of the school lands and to provide the
owners of these few private sections free
range without remuneration to the school
fund, or else force the purchase of their
private lands at fabulous prices. We
think Senator Houston's bill goes too far.
1t should not, under any circumstances,
make it penalty to inclose other than
the public lands and the lands belonging
to the school and asylum funds.
No measure should be passed by the
legislature which would result in putting
foreigners and foreign spectators in a
position to black-mail the cattlemen of
Texas engaged in a lawful business and
paying home taxes, or which would result
in securing to any the free use of the
public lands, while the children of Texas
grope in ignorance.